Wednesday, 10 June 2009
-
Edible odds and mercifully an end
So, we've had a few culinary highlights recently, so I thought I'd jot them down.
First, I'll start with celery root puree. S and I have had this at quite a few memorable meals and thought it was tasty. A less starchy mashed potato. While we were in Whidbey, we saw them for sale at a farmer's market (note, literally a farmer's market - a single table's worth of stuff sitting out unattended...) and picked a couple up. Celery root is unbelievable woody and when we peeled it, we didn't get everything. Thus, we ended up with a nice puree seasoned with wood fibers. Texturally complex and brutal to eat. The mouth feel is only comparable to pureed toothpicks mixed with grits.
We did the only thing possible and mashed it through a strainer. The resulting wood pulp might have been appropriate to make paper, but we weren't feeling industrious - just hungry. The puree was good.
Next, how about frozen custard. A new shop opened up nearby and its been the source of much discussion. First, is frozen custard an east coast or midwest thing? I remember having it when I was a kid so voted midwest. There was no history prior to my consciousness, just a bunch of made up stories.
Frozen custard is a gourmet ice cream treat that first originated on Coney Island, NY as a carnival treat at the turn of the century. The popularity of Frozen Custard quickly grew and was the rage of the east coast resort areas. In 1933, Chicago was responsible for bringing Frozen Custard to the midwest for the World's Fair. After the fair, frozen custard became wildly popular in towns like Milwaukee, St. Louis, Kansas City and Lafayette, Indiana.
Doh. So much for my attempt to thin slice the topic. Perhaps I should stick to more blink-appropriate topics ... like how to reduce the national debt. Anyway, we went to free cone day at Old School and enjoyed it. I because there is no better than free. S because she had never had frozen custard and her chocolate cone was oh so creamy and delicious. I suspect we'll be back. Actually, I think in raving about how good the cone was, S told me we'd be back.
<aside, do you think bringing up eliminating the national debt is a dated concept of a "big" problem? like solving world peace or world hunger? do people even think about the nuclear arms race, the star wars program, or MAD anymore? for younger generations is the archtypical "big" problem global warming or getting out of Iraq/Afghanistan? hmm. maybe we can concoct a scheme to bring the topic back in vogue.>
Ok, where were we. Oh yeah, trying unsuccessfully to create food porn. Or better yet proxy Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmerman as your Seattle gastro-anthropologist.
Speaking of Bourdain, I saw him yesterday morning during the return of my Seattle public television morning vigil. <If there is a local talking head wanting air time and public exposure, I'm your huckleberry. My only request is please, let's do away with the 70 and 80's ties. Ugh.> Yesterday morning's Citystream featured community kitchens (good idea), P-patches (great idea), Salumi's (goto Seattle "secret" to the foodie world - requisite celebrity associations included), and a place called Skillet. Skillet seems to be Seattle's entrant into the gourmet street food movement. <Seattle inevitably only has one of trends for a very long time.> I assume NYC has had this forever as JC, from my high school runs the Dessert Truck there (props for doctors turned emergency pastry technicians). Street food is much talked about right now because in the interest of generating more permit revenue and becoming a "great" city - definition changing daily - Seattle is bringing back street food.
As for Skillet itself, if I had a cellphone camera, I would be able to show you photos of the hip truck, industrial setting (only a mile from work), and good food. Alas, I am a corporate drone and my crackberry is without such accoutrement and you'll have to do without. MG and MK had the confit. I had their signature burger and fries. I learned from the M's that confit means stored in fat and then fried. Perhaps it was the ginormous burger. Perhaps it was the bacon jam. Whatever it was, the explanation of confit made my stomach revulse. Perhaps it is that I went over the top and poutined my fries. <I think 'to poutine' should be a verb. It should mean to take something and make it even better and worse in its key dimensions especially when dealing with food. This word should be synonomous with "with bacon" at a Brazillian churrascaria. (Go green!).> The burger was quite good. Be warned, it is enormous. The gravy tasty. The blackberry lemonade pretty good. Notably fun chewing blackberry seeds. I hiccuped the mile walk back to my desk.
ed note: I fully acknowledge this burger wasn't as big as the Annihilator DM and I ate in Davis. I just have to accept that I'm older and out of shape now. That and the fact that conference calls and sitting at my desk don't work up an appetite like an ultimate tournament does.
-
recommend
- recs 0
-
share
-
email
- sent 0
Post a Comment